


Retirement Farm

by BookDragon13



Series: Bucky Barnes Bingo [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes Recovering, Fluff, M/M, Retired Bucky, Retirement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:15:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24596617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookDragon13/pseuds/BookDragon13
Summary: Bucky retires from avenging and starts a farm
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Bucky Barnes Bingo [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1753912
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30
Collections: Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020





	Retirement Farm

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Retirement Farm  
> Collaborator(s): BookDragon13 / writing-what-writing  
> Square Filled: C4 retirement  
> Ship/Main Pairing: Stucky (Bucky/Steve)  
> Rating: Gen  
> Major Tags/Triggers/Warnings: none  
> Summary: Bucky retires from avenging and starts a farm   
> Word Count: 1477

Bucky wasn’t sure what to do now that he was retired from avenging. For so much of his life, he’d been fighting. He’d kind of forgotten what it was like to be normal, and besides, normal was so much different nowadays than it had been in the 40s. There were so many options for what Bucky could do, and he had his Avengers salary and army back pay to spend. All Bucky knew was that he needed to do something that involved hard work and be able to get through all the trauma he’d lived through.

Then he remembered Clint had a farm. Bucky stayed there for a little while to see if farming would be something he’d like to do. Somehow, he took to it like a duck to water. It was long days full of hard work, but he could do it on his own timeframe. Bucky could choose what field he worked on, how long it took him. He could even choose when to have a day off if he so desired. That was something he hadn’t had since before joining the army.

And seeing Clint with his family? It made Bucky ache for the dream he had before the war to have a family of his own. But he hadn’t met anyone to settle down with back then, and Bucky wasn’t sure if he’d be willing to go looking for that right now. Not with how messed up he felt.

So Bucky bought a farm- a ranch actually- and got to work. Fixing up the house and barn came first, mostly because it was fall and Bucky couldn’t plant much. The house was a two story with a large kitchen, a living room, five bedrooms (the master and one bedroom downstairs with the rest upstairs) and three bathrooms. Bucky wasn’t sure what he’d do with all the space, but it felt good to make the house his own. Besides, who knew if (more likely when) Steve and the other Avengers would drop by. So he bought paint, furniture, bedding, and random little knickknacks from town he thought were cute to fill the rooms. Thankfully the house’s plumbing and electricity had been kept in good shape so Bucky didn’t have to worry about that. 

It didn’t take as long as Bucky thought to get the house filled with the stuff he felt it needed. And the barn didn’t need a lot of repair either- just a couple gaps to fill and a new paint job. So to fill the time during winter when he’d be inside most of the time anyway, Bucky decided to learn how to knit and crochet. Who didn’t need warm blankets, sweaters and mittens?

His first few projects were messy, but when they were done, Bucky excitedly sent pictures to Steve. The blonde sent back a text asking about Christmas gifts and a wink emoji, making Bucky laugh. He replied: ‘Only if you’re a good boy and don’t fight with Tony’. The handful of pouting emojis made Bucky laugh even harder.

Time passed easily as Bucky kept himself busy. Steve came for Christmas, getting a matching set of Captain America themed crochet hat, scarf and gloves. The smile on Steve’s face made Bucky feel all fuzzy in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time. And getting presents from the other Avengers felt nice, knowing he had other friends besides Steve.

“Retirement seems to suit you, Bucky,” Steve said one night between Christmas and New Years. They’d been drinking hot chocolate in front of the fire in the living room underneath one of the blankets Bucky had made.

Bucky chuckled and sipped his hot chocolate. “I wouldn’t say that quite yet, but thanks. You ever think about retiring, giving up the shield?”

Steve shrugged. “Sometimes. But I’m not sure if I have something that’s worth giving up the fight, you know? Like you wanted to be able to choose what you do, rather than just follow me into fights.”

“Well, that got me here, didn’t it?” Bucky grinned. “But I know what you mean. I like choosing whether or not I get up in the morning, or deciding what to do during the day. It’s definitely been worth giving up fighting and being one of the Avengers, even if I haven’t had my first season here yet. Maybe I’ll eventually go stir crazy but so far it’s been a good life.”

“Yeah, it looks like it,” Steve nodded. “I just gotta find something worth retiring for.”

“Like what?”

“Love. Somebody I can share my life with, someone who’s willing to find out who I am when I don’t have the shield.”

Bucky thought about that. “Do you know who you are without the shield anymore?”

Another shrug. “I’ve been Captain America for so long, and I’ve been fighting since before the war. Sometimes I still feel like that scrappy little chihuahua that kept getting in fights in alleys. But most of the time it’s hard to remember why I’m fighting.”

“Yeah, that gets tiring,” Bucky agreed. “But you’re always welcome here whenever you need a break. Or need a reason to fight.”

Steve smiled at that. “Thanks Bucky. You’re a good friend.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Winter turned into spring, and Bucky finally could start planting stuff. He consulted Clint about what would be good to start out with, then tilled a plot on his land. He also figured a way to water with a sprinkler system. Bucky then planted corn, peas, pumpkins, squash, beans, and basically all the vegetables he hated as a kid. There were strawberry, raspberry, and blackberry bushes, and then the apple and peach trees. While he knew those wouldn’t produce anything for at least another year or two, Bucky wanted the bushes and trees there for something more permanent.

After doing the planting, Bucky got some animals to fill the barn with. A couple dairy cows, a horse, a few chickens, and a few goats because they reminded Bucky of his time in Wakanda. Bucky also got a dog that could go inside the house with him. It was comforting to go feed the animals everyday. With the crops and the animals, Bucky now had something besides himself and saving people to live for. Besides, the animals were great listeners when Bucky needed somebody to talk to. And they had a way of giving comfort when no words could. Bucky had read about therapy animals, and from what he’d felt while being around his, he knew they worked. 

It was an adventure, though, learning how to milk the cows and goats. Bucky had done that a little while in Wakanda, but the village kids were usually there to help him. This time around, there was no one to help him. At least now he had two arms! The easy part was the actual milking, the hard part: getting the cows and goats to the milking pen. Bucky already knew goats were stubborn, but he didn’t realize that cows could be harder to move. Thankfully, before long, Bucky and his animals established a rhythm of sorts to the milking.

And who knew learning to ride a horse could be so difficult? Bucky had been a city boy before the war, and Hydra didn’t seem to think that riding a horse would be a usable skill for their asset. Sure, the mare was already trained and rideable when Bucky got her, but he had a hard time riding until he figured out it was more body language than anything verbal. Once he figured that out, Bucky had an amazing time on the horse. It helped that the mare was calm and let Bucky work things out for himself.

It felt amazing for Bucky to be able to choose what he did each day. While there were things that had to be done, like feeding and milking and gathering eggs, Bucky could do them at his leisure. And if there were days where the only times he went outside were to take care of the animals, that was between him and them. 

Occasionally Steve and the other Avengers would come and visit. They always remarked how much better Bucky seemed, and he always teased them that maybe they should consider retirement themselves. Although with Steve, Bucky wasn’t truly teasing. He could see how hard the superhero lifestyle was for the blonde super soldier, and Steve seemed ready for retirement. Steve certainly was old enough for it, Bucky liked to joke. Yet Steve said he’d think about it, but he never acted on it.

Until one day, Steve came to Bucky’s farm with all his personal belongings, minus a certain shield. When Bucky asked about it, Steve just shook his head.

“Sam holds the title and the shield now. Finally figured out my reason for retiring.”

“And what’s that?” Bucky asked.

“You.”


End file.
